All posts tagged ‘shuttleworth’

Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth gave a keynote at O’Reilly’s Open Source Convention in Portland on Tuesday, affirming that Linux is the platform for the future. On Monday, he gave a more laid-back version to a couple hundred people at a theater pub, including mostly Q&A.

He discussed his 2002 trip to the International Space Station, including a lively anecdote about nearly activating the escape sequence. Where Shuttleworth really preached was when he discussed the future of free software to the open source crowd.

On Mobile

“I have no doubt Linux is the platform for mobile devices in the future.”

“iPhone set the benchmark for what to expect of a mobile phone.”

Shuttleworth noted that the influence of iPhone will go beyond phones. There will be many devices that are neither laptop nor desktop.

“We’re talking about picture frames, remote controls, television sets, hotel in-room, video-on-demand, porn-delivery systems. Anything in the future that you can imagine touching or interacting with.”

On Open Source

In 2003 “we were just scratching the surface of what is possible with free software, both in terms of the amount of energy that’s going into the free software stack and in terms of the economics of it.

We needed to find a way to deliver a certified free software stack, something that’s good enough for production, that’s not a second class offering, and deliver that free of charge. That means trying to find business models around it that are entirely service-based.”

Shuttleworth lauded Redhat and Novell for reaching their technical audiences who enjoy playing OS mechanic. He said to go further, we need to focus on the audiences that require software to work without tinkering.

“Users have the right to expect secure, robust, tested, integrated and supported software.”

Signs are that Linux is making positive improvements. Shuttleworth said recent data from Chinese users given Linux machines is that as many as 20% leave Linux installed, surprisingly high for a country where piracy is less shunned.

One of Shuttleworth’s larger laughs of the night came from a quip about users installing copied versions of Windows: